Dark Deceptions: A Regency and Medieval Collection of Dark Romances(177)

He came around so he could see her from the front. The emerald necklace coupled with the dark green surcoat she wore was absolutely stunning. He smiled with satisfaction.

“Truly,” he said quietly. “Do you like it?”

Chrystobel was still staring at it in the mirror, her fingers moving gently along the pearls. “It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” she breathed with great sincerity. “Oh, Keller… for me? Truly?”

He laughed softly. “Indeed, it is for you.”

Chrystobel simply stared at it, the exquisite workmanship and beauty of it. She was clearly overwhelmed. “To thank you seems so inadequate,” she said after a moment. “I wish there was a greater word for my gratitude.”

He turned away and went back to his saddle bags, pulling out all of the things he had brought for her. Scarves and jewelry spilled forth along with a corked gourd and an alabaster phial.

“There is more,” he said, holding aloft the garnet necklace and the great three-strand necklace. “I purchased these, also. I thought mayhap to give the garnets to Izlyn. Do you think she will like them?”

Chrystobel looked at him in awe. “You… you would give it to her?”

He nodded. “Aye,” he said. “Unless you think she will not like it. If that is the case, then I will have to look elsewhere for a present for her.”

Chrystobel just stared at him a moment. Then, she looked at the necklaces and her eyes filled with tears. Keller was immediately concerned.

“What is the matter?” he demanded gently, like a man who is fearful of a social misstep. “Did I say something? Why are you…?”

Chrystobel cut him off, shaking her head. Before he could press her, she threw herself at him, arms around his neck, smacking him in the throat even through his hauberk. Off-guard but quite thrilled by the unexpected gesture, he did the only thing he could do. He put his arms around her and held her next to his rain-dampened body. She was soft and sweet and alluring.

“Thank you,” she whispered tightly, squeezing his neck so tightly that she would have strangled him were it not for the hauberk creating a barrier. “You are so kind to bring me gifts, but to bring gifts for Izlyn as well… what a generous man you are. Izzie will be thrilled.”

Keller was sorely wishing at that moment that he was not wearing his armor. He wanted to feel his wife against him in the worst way. His wife. It still didn’t seem real because it was in name only. He’d had yet to progress beyond the social stage and he very much wanted to. As the storm pounded outside, lighting up the sky every so often, he thought that now would be a good time for them to become husband and wife in every sense of the word. Releasing Chrystobel enough so that he could look her in the eye, he cupped her face with his enormous hands and gently slanted his mouth over hers.

Chrystobel didn’t resist Keller’s kiss. In fact, she had anticipated it, hoped for it, and now that he was upon her, she collapsed against him, her tender lips suckling his. It was warm and wonderful, and being swallowed by his big arms was nothing short of delightful. When he moved to kiss her more deeply, she didn’t resist. She responded readily.

When his tongue snaked into her mouth, timidly, she simply allowed herself to experience it. She’d never been kissed like this, not ever, and there was something very naughty and decadent about it. His kisses grew more forceful and she let him have his way, experiencing every sensation with the greatest of pleasure. Her arms went around his neck to hold him fast, hold him against her, and she was startled when he suddenly bent over and swept her into his arms. Big, strong, powerful arms cradled her without effort as he carried her over to the bed and deposited her gently on the mattress.

It began to occur to Chrystobel what was about to happen. The moment was upon them, the moment that should have occurred on the day they married but didn’t. Instead of being fearful, she was actually quite curious. She gazed up at Keller expectantly only to see that he was removing his tunic and wet mail, so she thought that perhaps she should remove her clothes also. Wasn’t that what one did when consummating a marriage? Although no one had ever really spoken to her about the ways between men and women, at least not seriously, she had heard servants speak on it more than once. Naked flesh against naked flesh, they had said. A man’s male member between a woman’s legs, causing babies to be born. Aye, she knew all of that. It was time to create a baby, a son for Keller, so she sat up on the mattress and reached behind her, unfastening the stays of the surcoat.

As she stood up to remove it, Keller was already half-undressed. His mail hauberk and tunic had come off, leaving him naked from the waist up. Silently, he reached out to help Chrystobel by lifting her surcoat over her head, leaving her clad only in her shift and stockings. He tossed back the coverlet on the bed and Chrystobel removed her shoes and stockings, completely ignorant of the fact that this was supposed to be an intimate and pleasant experience as much as it was an experience to create a child. No one had ever told her it was supposed to be pleasurable. Therefore, she was looking at it all rather logically. She climbed into the bed, gazing up at him with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation.

“Are we to create a child now?” she asked rather frankly. “If that is the case, then you will have to tell me what to do. I do not know that much about it other than what the servants have told me.”

Keller gazed down at her, a smile playing on his lips. “You are already doing all you need to do,” he told her. “Getting the woman into the bed is the most difficult part.”